Time Present and Time Past
by Kaiser Washington
Summary: In an alternate world, Inuyasha is the Inu no Taisho's elder son and Sesshoumaru is the one who has been sealed against the sacred tree. Will Sesshoumaru get along with Inuyasha's comrades in the feudal period, and will Inuyasha give up on his dreams of becoming a full demon? And what is Kagome's connection to the original world? Ongoing.
1. Prologue

A/N: The title is take from the first line of "Burnt Norton" from T. S. Eliot's _Four Quartets_.

* * *

 **Time Present and Time Past**

 **Prologue**

The waves beat upon the rocky shore, throwing mist into Inuyasha's face. The air smelt of salt. The rocks under his feet were slippery and cold.

"Will you be the one to stop me?"

Inuyasha looked up to see a figure with white hair blowing in the sea breeze standing with his back to him, gazing at the moon. In appearance and bearing – and to a lesser extent by the sound of his voice – he put Inuyasha in mind of Sesshoumaru. But who was Sesshoumaru? He grasped at nebulous impressions at the back of his mind that seemed just within his reach but scattered when he got close. Sesshoumaru _was_ someone – of that he was sure. In a moment the name vanished from his mind completely.

"Would you kill your own father?"

His father – the Inu no Taishou.

"N-no, of course not," said Inuyasha hastily. "Why would I do such a thing?"

The Inu no Taishou glanced over his shoulder, as if trying to remember why he had said that.

"I don't know," he said at length. "Well, if you don't want me to go, I shall stay. The important thing is Izayoi is safe. The humans from her former clan who sought to destroy her again may live another day."

"You need to recover from your wounds first," Inuyasha found himself saying. "The wounds you sustained in your last battle against them."

"Yes, I must."

"If you hadn't given me Tessaiga before you left…"

"Izayoi might have been taken. I made the right decision."

"What about Tenseiga?"

"Tenseiga would have been of no use to me in that battle anyway," said the Ino no Taishou. "I wanted you to use it to protect your mother, should the need have arisen. I made the right decision."

The Great Dog General's two great swords – Tessaiga and Tenseiga – both passed down to his hanyou son Inuyasha during his lifetime.

* * *

Two hundred and fifty years in the future, a lone youkai pinned by an arrow to a sacred tree on the outskirts of a human village, surrounded by a ring of people.

"Sesshoumaru," said Kagome.

"What did you say?" demanded Kaede, the old priestess.

"Huh? Did I say something?"

"I thought you said something like 'Sesshoumaru'."

"Did I?"

"It is no matter," said Kaede. "This Inuyasha— I mean to say, this inu _youkai_ terrorized our village fifty years ago. It was my sister Kikyou who put the arrow in his heart, sealing him for eternity. Your arrival in our world has awoken him."

A growl.

Kagome and Kaede looked up. The dog demon was staring at them through golden eyes. There was no anger or malice in those eyes. There was scarcely any emotion in them at all. They were eyes accustomed to looking down on humans as an inferior lifeform. Kagome thought he looked like a younger version of someone she ought to know but couldn't remember. What was the word Kaede said she had uttered just now? She couldn't remember that either.

"What is your name, demon?" said Kaede.

The demon's golden gaze turned upon her, but he said nothing.

"Speak," Kaede demanded.

"I do not answer to the likes of you."

"Sesshoumaru!" said Kagome suddenly.

The demon looked at her sharply.

"How do you know my name?"

How did Kagome know his name? She tried remembering whether it was from a story her grandfather had told her when she was younger, but that didn't feel right. Kagome felt like one who has had her memories wiped imperfectly, leaving little shards here and there, not enough to form a complete picture.

 _Shards!_

There was another word Kagome felt ought to have some meaning for her.

"Since you seem to know who I am, do me the courtesy of freeing me from this accursed trap," said Sesshoumaru.

Kagome took a step toward the sacred tree.

"Stop, Kagome!" said Kaede.

But Kagome did not fear the demon – this Sesshoumaru. Something told her it was safe to approach him. She paused for a minute under the tree, close enough to feel Sesshoumaru's warm breath on her face. If Sesshoumaru intended to harm her, he could bite her head off at this distance. She grabbed the arrow piercing Sesshoumaru's chest and pulled it out with a sharp tug.

Sesshoumaru winced as the arrow passed through his body a second time and threw Kagome off with a growl.

"Kagome!"

"Today you have freed me," said Sesshoumaru. "That is the only reason I did not kill you."

He turned on his heels and strode away in the direction of the forest. The villagers parted to make way for him.

Kagome rose shakily to her feet and dusted off her clothes.

"Wait, Sesshoumaru!" she said. She was too shaken to think clearly and had given the reins of her mind over to her subconscious, saying the words as they appeared on her tongue. "I know where to find Tessaiga and Tenseiga."

Sesshoumaru stopped.

"Take me to them," he commanded. He swept back into the circle of villagers and grabbed Kagome roughly by the collar. "If you want to live."

Kagome instantly regretted opening her mouth. Not only did she not know where to find Tessaiga and Tenseiga, she did not know what they were.

tbc.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Kagome had not been in the feudal period long, and she already hated it. The first thing that had jarred her modern sensibilities was the lack of running water. Kaede had merely stared at her in amusement when Kagome had asked if the priestess's hut had a bathroom, as if it were that unusual to expect there to be more than a communal outhouse for an entire village. If that hadn't been bad enough, she went on to narrowly avoid being mauled by a bloodthirsty demon seeking something called Tessaiga and Tenseiga. She already missed the days when her biggest concerns had been upcoming math tests and her brother getting his hands on her diary. She longed so much to go back to her time that she was determined not to die pathetically in the middle of a forsaken wood among demons, where she wouldn't even make the history books back in the future.

Now, as Sesshoumaru held her arm in a vise grip and dragged her through the forest like a runaway calf, she wasn't sure that she wouldn't die here after all. She had been alarmed by the sight of Sesshoumaru's claws millimeters from her skin. They were sharp as daggers, and their owner did not seem the type to care if they inadvertently cut someone's arm lengthwise into noodles. Her hope at this point was not so much to free herself from the demon but to die a quick death. A demon! Something that until recently she had believed to be the stuff of fairy tales and her grandfather's whimsical stories.

They stopped at the edge of a cliff. Pebbles rolled from under Kagome's feet and fell hundreds of feet into the dense canopy of a forest that stretched all the way to the horizon. Kagome swallowed.

"I don't sense their aura," said Sesshoumaru, shaking Kagome over the cliff. "You told me you could lead me to my father's swords. You shall make good on your word or die a horrible bloody death."

Blood. Red. A flash of red passed before Kagome's eyes.

"Inuyasha!" she gasped.

"What?"

The memory was gone.

"Inuyasha, huh?" said Sesshoumaru, eyes narrowing. "So you're saying that damned half-breed has both swords? Ridiculous."

Kagome agreed that it was ridiculous that she should be dragged into the middle of what was increasingly sounding like a family dispute, but she wisely forebore to say this aloud, trapped as she was between claws and a precipice.

"Who is Inuyasha?" she asked.

Sesshoumaru glanced down at Kagome, surprised that the human had spoken of its own accord, without being asked a question. For the first time he looked at her closely, and what he saw startled him, for she bore an unreal resemblance to the woman who had pinned him to the tree fifty years ago. Was she that person? No, she was too young. She might be a daughter or perhaps a more distant descendant. But the scent was unmistakable. Sesshoumaru was put in mind of the the reason that he had lost so much time fighting for his rightful place as the Lord of the Western Lands, and he was filled with anger – but it was a cold, calm anger that allowed him to evaluate the person in front of him without lashing out. There was no fear in her eyes – only curiosity. To a demon like Sesshoumaru, a lack of fear meant a lack of respect – both highly unusual qualities among humans, who were by far the most cowardly of the intelligent species and the quickest to ingratiate themselves with an enemy rather than die honorably when faced with imminent defeat in battle. The way this woman looked at him – it was as if she were looking at an equal and not looking up at a god from the sublunary realm. It was a novel experience for Sesshoumaru, and for some reason, he decided to reward her impudence with an answer.

"Inuyasha is the lowly spawn of my father and a human," he said. He loosened his grip on Kagome's arm, for the feeling of human skin under his hand, soft and warm, had started sending shivers of disgust down his spine. How his father could have consorted with such a being was beyond his understanding.

Kagome wrested her arm free of Sesshoumaru's grip and stepped away from the edge of the cliff, massaging the spot where Sesshoumaru's hand had left an imprint. Sesshoumaru was in no hurry to lay his hand on her again.

"Why don't you start from the beginning, then?" said Kagome. "I have no idea who Inuyasha is or what your quarrel with him is."

Sesshoumaru snorted.

"I don't owe the likes of you any more information than I have already given you," he said. "Either you take me to Inuyasha and my father's swords or you are of no use to me and you die."

"First of all, I have a name," said Kagome. "It's Kagome."

Sesshoumaru regarded her curiously. He had been unsure before, but she truly had no fear. There was something about her recklessness and even her lack of respect that almost amused him. He had never seen a human quite like her – granted, he made a practice of staying away from humans generally, so there wasn't a whole lot in the way of prior experience to assess this one against. Even so, it was hard for him to ignore the fact that this woman, Kagome – and how he wished he could unhear her name, for the idea of knowing a human's name was almost insulting –, was in possession of more than the usual amount of spunk for someone of her low birth.

"Second of all," Kagome went on, "you're the one who needs me, so you'd better start treating me nicely."

Yes, spunk.

Suddenly, the ground shook, and Sesshoumaru felt a familiar aura. Storm clouds gathered in the sky, and a bolt of lightning struck the ground mere feet from where they stood. The edge of the cliff fell away, and Kagome tumbled after it. Sesshoumaru grabbed her by the back of her collar and threw her against a tree.

"What's happening?"

A large demonic bird clutching bolts of lightning in its talons descended from the clouds. Kagome added her own shriek of terror to the demon's thundering shriek.

Sesshoumaru flexed his claws. He wasn't looking at the oversized chicken that had loosed another thunderbolt on the face of the cliff, causing more of it to crumble away; he was looking at the figure in the scarlet kimono that stood on its shoulder, silver hair billowing in the wind, and the two swords that hung at its waist.

 _Inuyasha._

"Oi, Sesshoumaru!" said Inuyasha. "I sensed that you finally woke up from your beauty sleep. Who would have thought a daiyoukai like you without a sword could be beaten so easily by a woman with a bow and a couple of arrows?"

Inuyasha leapt off the bird and landed lithely in front of Sesshoumaru. He was an inch taller than Sesshoumaru, and his broad chest and the rippling muscles under his armor made Sesshoumaru look like a scrawny child. Kagome instinctively backed away.

"Who's that?" said Inuyasha as his eyes fell on Kagome. "Did you find yourself a girlfriend? A human, no less. I had a feeling you'd come to the dark side sooner or later, for all the pompous things you've said about humans."

Sesshoumaru gritted his teeth.

"How dare a half-breed wield the Tessaiga?" he spat. "You dishonor my father's memory."

"Cool it, Sesshoumaru," said Inuyasha. "That's no way to talk to your older brother. You forget that _our_ father gave me this sword. And this one, too, probably because he didn't think you were worthy of wielding any of his weapons. I know what you're thinking. 'Inuyasha's only got the Tessaiga and the Tenseiga. Father must have left me the So'unga.' Let me free you from that misconception. The So'unga's gone. He took it with him to the underworld. Face it, Sesshoumaru, why would he leave you anything when you represent everything he hated about his old life? And don't pretend like you knew him. He shunned both you and your mother soon after your birth. He only had you to appease the other pure-blood zealots in the realm. But guess where that got them. They're gone now. They died by my blade."

Sesshoumaru lunged for the Tessaiga and let out a howl of pain when he grasped the hilt.

"It rejects you," said Inuyasha with a smirk. He planted a foot in Sesshoumaru's stomach and sent him flying into the trunk of a tree. "I always thought Father was more human than demon. He had the disposition, the compassion – even his taste in food and women was decidedly human. After he slaughtered Mother's clan, who tried to kill us several times after I was born, he was filled with remorse, and he couldn't look at himself as a demon again. He should have been born human. I'm the other way. I should have been a full demon. Luckily, there's something in this village that can grant my wish. Would you happen to have seen a little pink jewel, about yea big, glowing with an intense spiritual aura on your way in?"

Kagome knew what he was referring to. It was the Shikon Jewel that had been found within her body when she had been attacked by a demon upon first setting foot in this world. The aura from the jewel had been enough to destroy the demon on that occasion. Kaede had told her that the jewel must never fall into the wrong hands, or the world would be thrown into an apocalypse.

"I came here today not for Sesshoumaru, but for you," Inuyasha went on, addressing Kagome. "I knew the only person who could free Sesshoumaru from the seal was the one who had put it on him in the first place. It's the same person who was sworn to protect the jewel. That means you, priestess."

Sesshoumaru rose shakily to his feet and produced a whip made of demonic energy from his claws. He swung this at Inuyasha.

Inuyasha caught it, laughing, and cut it effortlessly with his sword.

"You're nothing against the might of the Tessaiga," he said.

"Silence!" Sesshoumaru spat.

In a flash, Inuyasha was in front of him, and Tessaiga was hilt-deep in Sesshoumaru's stomach. Sesshoumaru's eyes went wide as his blood spattered the earth in front of him.

"Goodbye, Sesshoumaru," Inuyasha whispered in his brother's ear as he pulled the sword out and let Sesshoumaru collapse into a limp pile.

Kagome knelt beside him and tried stopping the flow of blood with his copious fur sash.

"Don't bother helping him, woman," said Inuyasha. "He hates you. He can't stand your kind. Lead me to the jewel, and I will reward you, as the Lord of the Western Lands."

Kagome narrowed her eyes at him.

"You're a monster," she said. "And what is it with demons constantly asking me to lead them to things? I'm not a caretaker for all your stupid demonic objects."

"He's the monster," said Inuyasha. "I'm just a humble hanyou trying to make my way in a world where demons and humans will accept me as their leader without the Tessaiga hanging over their heads. They will only do that if I become a full demon. I would have thought you, who also look like a misfit, would know the feeling and want to accompany on my conquest of the world."

"What do you mean, 'look like a misfit'?" Kagome demanded. "Don't think you can just walk into the village and take the jewel. I'll die before I let you do that. And isn't this guy supposed to be your brother?"

Inuyasha spat on the ground.

"Does he look like my brother?" He jabbed Tessaiga's sheath at Sesshoumaru, who lay unconscious in a growing pool of his own blood. "Fine, he may look like me, but that's where the similarities end. I don't consider that full-demon weakling any brother of mine. It's too bad you won't come with me. But thanks anyway for telling me where to find the jewel."

Kagome watched in horror as Inuyasha sprinted away in the direction of the village. If that jewel truly had the ability to unleash an apocalypse, Kagome might not have a future to go back to. That was assuming she even survived. But what could she do to stop Inuyasha? Even Sesshoumaru, who had tossed Kagome around like a ragdoll, had been thrashed to a pulp by him.

A loud screech interrupted her inner turmoil, and she turned to behold the demonic bird alight on the edge of the cliff. Lightning shot from its claws as they dug into the earth, setting trees on fire where they struck. Opening its mouth, it bared several rows of sharp teeth and a throat wide enough to swallow Kagome whole. Then it pounced.

There was no time for Kagome to run or dodge. She closed her eyes and prepared for her end.

Except it never came.

Opening her eyes, she saw a large white dog standing in front of her with the bird's neck between its powerful jaws. The bird shrieked in pain and beat its great wings, but the dog's strength was greater. Globs of blood fell from the dog's underbelly as it used every fiber of its strength to subdue the bird.

 _This is Sesshoumaru,_ Kagome realized. _He saved me?_

With a demonic roar Sesshoumaru snapped the bird's neck and let the carcass fall into the valley. He reverted to his human form and fell to his knees, panting.

"You saved me," Kagome observed lamely.

"Don't think I did it for you, woman," said Sesshoumaru, breathing raspishly. _Kagome,_ he thought as the name that he did not want to remember returned to his mind. "If Inuyasha becomes a full demon and has control of Tessaiga and Tensaiga at the same time, overthrowing his illegitimate rule will become even more troublesome for me. I did it in my best interests."

"Whatever you say, Mr. Nice Guy," said Kagome, assisting Sesshoumaru to his feet. "Inuyasha's probably found the jewel already, and in your state, you're no match for him. Not that you were much of a match to begin with."

Sesshoumaru growled menacingly.

"But I'm sure that's only because he's got both those swords," Kagome added, laughing nervously.

"Leave me here," said Sesshoumaru. "At this rate Inuyasha will get his hands on the jewel. I haven't the strength to go after him. You must be the one to stop him."

Kagome laid Sesshoumaru against a tree and tied his sash around the wound in his midsection where the Tessaiga had passed through his body. Even for a demon, such a wound could prove mortal unless treated quickly. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her back to the village, though the bramble growing over the path and the trees that Inuyasha had felled in his wake to impede his pursuers greatly slowed her progress. She feared that Inuyasha would have got his hands on the jewel, having slaughtered Kaede and the others, by the time she reached the village. And even if she made it in time, what could she possibly do to stop him? Then she remembered Inuyasha's taunt to Sesshoumaru: "Defeated by a woman with a bow and a couple of arrows." There had been a bow and a quiver of arrows at Kaede's hut. It was better than nothing.

The first place Kagome went was Kaede's hut to retrieve the bow. Then she proceeded forthwith toward the shrine, where Kaede and the other priests were hurling imprecations at the intruder within.

"Kagome," said Kaede. "It is over. The half-demon has got his hands on the jewel."

"Silence, you!"

Kagome looked to the source of the command and saw a green imp that barely reached waist-height standing guard in front of the shrine with a staff bearing the image of a man and a woman's faces.

"Is that also a demon?" asked Kagome.

"It's Jaken-sama to you," said the imp – rather impishly, Kagome thought with literary amusement.

"Oi, Jaken," Inuyasha called from inside the shrine. "Bring that priestess to me. It appears I can't touch the jewel."

"You heard Inuyasha-sama, old hag," said Jaken. "Get in there."

"Not the old one, you dimwit."

"Apologies, Inuyasha-sama!" Jaken covered his head instinctively, as if expecting a blow. He pointed his staff at Kagome. "Young priestess, Inuyasha-sama asks for you."

"You can tell Inuyasha- _sama_ to—"

"Young lady!" said Kaede in shock.

"—do it himself."

"Jaken, burn the village to the ground."

Jaken raised his staff into the air. The man's face on the head of the staff began spitting embers preparatory to unleashing a conflagration.

Gritting her teeth, Kagome pushed through the crowd and entered the shrine. Inuyasha sat cross-legged on the floor, affecting patience, though his rapidly rocking knee betrayed him. He was so close and yet so far from his goal. The Shikon Jewel on a velvet cushion glowed brilliantly in the otherwise unlit room. Its aura was white-hot, like the corona of the sun. Inuyasha might not have been able to see it, but Kagome could.

"I take it you can see the aura," said Inuyasha. "That means you're also the only one who can touch the jewel."

"Yeah, what of it?" said Kagome. Her experience with Sesshoumaru had made her more confident about employing the sass that she had occasionally been famous for back in her world. Demons seemed to respect a person who stood up to them. "Doesn't mean I'm going to do it for you."

"You will do it," said Inuyasha. "If you don't want those innocent villagers out there to die a horrible death. The staff I gave Jaken can produce flames thousands of times hotter than any fire you've seen."

"How can you be so casual about killing people? You're half human, after all."

"It's the other half that I'm more interested in. As you can probably tell, I'm pretty well suited to being a demon already. It's only a small step from here to becoming a full demon, like my father. But please, take your time. My lifespan is much longer than yours, and losing a day or two means nothing to me. But it's not long enough to make fifty years seem like five, and if it had been me on the tree, transfixed by a purifying arrow, instead of Sesshoumaru, I might have fared a lot worse. It's weaknesses like that that I seek to eliminate."

 _Purifying arrow?_

That's right, Kagome thought. There was no away an ordinary arrow could have sealed a demon like Sesshoumaru for fifty years unless it had been imbued with special spiritual qualities – for instance, the aura around the Shikon Jewel. An arrowhead bathed in that aura might be enough to hurt even Inuyasha. Glancing back at her quiver, she saw that arrows gave off the same white aura as the jewel.

Kagome knelt down and held her hand against the jewel' aura. It felt cool and unthreatening. She reached out and closed her hand around the jewel. Inuyasha's gaze had been fixed on the jewel. He did not see her other hand reach into the quiver to pull out an arrow. The moment her hand touched the jewel, Inuyasha jumped to his feet in triumph, and Kagome buried the arrow in his thigh in one swift motion.

Inuyasha let out a howl of pain and fell through the wall of the shrine. Sunlight poured in and fell on the jewel, which Kagome had replaced on the cushion. It looked so small and harmless in the light that Kagome's marvel for its power grew.

"Damn you, woman!" Inuyasha yelled through clenched teeth, tearing the wall of the shrine out with his claws.

But Kagome was ready for him. She had pulled another arrow out of the quiver and held it between forefinger and middle finger on the taut string of the bow. This was aimed at Inuyasha's heart.

"Do you think a half-demon like you can survive this next one?"

Inuyasha growled in anger. He pulled the arrow out of his thigh and tossed it aside.

"Don't think this is over," he said. "Come, Jaken."

"Yes, Inuayasha-sama."

The imp whistled on his fingers, and a two-headed dragon descended from the sky. Inuyasha threw his legs over the dragon and spurred it with his heel.

"I will keep returning," said Inuyasha as the dragon took off, Jaken barely securing a grip on its tail. "Until the jewel is mine and this village has been destroyed."

"Thank goodness the jewel is safe," said Kaede once Inuyasha's demonic presence was safely gone.

But Kagome did not feel relief just yet. She remembered the demon she had left in the woods. Why could she not leave him there and forget about him? Sesshoumaru was a demon, after all. Just because he wanted to kill Inuyasha and Inuyasha wanted to kill Kagome, it did not mean that they were suddenly allies against a common foe. Who was to say Sesshoumaru wouldn't try to kill her again?

"I'll be back soon," she said to Kaede.

Even still, Kagome could not shake the conviction that she could not let Sesshoumaru die. Perhaps it was because in those moments between life and death that they had shared together she had glimpsed something of the human under his hardened demonic exterior; or perhaps it was _her_ humanity, with all its attendant naïveté and credulity, that commanded her to go to the aid of a living being that was suffering or to put her faith in the best aspects of her fellow creatures. Grabbing a first aid kit from among the meager possessions she had brought with her when she tumbled into this world, she headed back into the woods. She found Sesshoumaru lying against the tree where she had left him, asleep or – possibly dead. Untying the sash, she found that the blood had miraculously stopped flowing and the wound had closed.

Sesshoumaru opened his eyes.

So he was still alive.

"Hold still," said Kagome as she tended the wound with disinfectant and tied a bandage around his body. Instinctively, she started speaking and told Sesshoumaru about how she had contrived to use a purified arrow to drive Inuyasha off before he could steal the jewel. She didn't know what possessed her to open her mouth and start yapping as if she were among friends at school back in her time, but she did. Perhaps it was the utter lack of reaction from the other that made it seem no different from talking aloud to herself or writing in her diary. Whatever the case, being able to talk freely to someone in this world, where she was as good as a foreigner in some strange distant land, navigating it with bits and fragments of folklore and poorly remembered history lessons, caused a warm feeling to swell in her chest and spread to the rest of her body. She felt happy – or at the very least, at peace.

Uncharacteristically, Sesshoumaru listened. He did not bother telling Kagome that her ministrations were superfluous to a demon like him and that he would be healthy again in no time, for he realized that this was a woman who had the power to defeat the one who wielded the Tessaiga and the Tenseiga.

Perhaps humans were not entirely useless after all.

tbc.

* * *

A/N: Just in case it isn't clear, Inuyasha is about as old as Sesshoumaru might have been, and Sesshoumaru is as old as he is in the opening scene of the third movie. Continuity errors? Probably. Nobody even knows what's going on yet - including me. I've tried not to make adult Inuyasha any more cruel than he was in the series before he met Kagome and started being tamed by her.

Also, the title of this story is _Time Present and Time Past_ , so maybe in the next chapter we will see how Inuyasha has been doing in Sesshoumaru's shoes two hundred and fifty years before this.


	3. Chapter 2

A/N: I've changed the summary and the premise somewhat to get rid of the time travel element, because that didn't seem to be going anywhere. Instead, this is just how things are in this world.

I hope I can prevail on my readers to leave a review, so that I know what I did well and what I didn't do well and what you liked or didn't like. I'm updating the genre with "Friendship", because it seems apropos. There won't be romance, unless I decide to whore myself out for reviews, because it doesn't fit with the story I want to tell.

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

Inuyasha's relationship with his father was a difficult one. On the one hand, his father doted on him, for he was his only child; on the other, Inuyasha was keenly aware of the insuperable difference in their abilities, and that rankled more than he could ever admit to himself. Being half human, the most he could ever aspire to was a modest simulacrum of the Inu no Taisho. Indeed, he drew endless comparison to the Great Dog General throughout the Western Lands, as if the similarities were so rare as to merit remark, and his hanyou birth put him in low standing with the clan elders back at home, to whom the thought of anointing a half-demon as their leader was more laughable than odious. The tree demon Bokuseno would have been a more palatable choice to them, the fact that he must necessarily be absent from his coronation by virtue of being rooted in the ground notwithstanding.

But the force of the Inu no Taisho's personality was such that no one in the clan dared harass Inuyasha or his mother while he was growing up. In fact, Inuyasha had a pleasant, happy childhood. His every whim was a command for the obsequious youkai who swarmed around the family, hoping to win some favor or other from its patriarch, and his days were split between martial training and rollicking in the fields with his friends.

He did not want for friends among the inu youkai. As a hanyou, he grew much faster than the other children of the clan, who were of pure birth, with the result that he became something of an alpha in his circle of friends, which greatly pleased him, because he could pretend to be the Inu no Taisho at play, and the other youkai pups would give him exactly the kind of respect and adoration he had seen accorded to his father.

But the true passion of his childhood was his fencing lessons with the swordsmith Totosai, who, being the greatest swordsmith in all the lands, knew a thing or two about sword fighting and could hold his own passably in a spar against the Inu no Taisho's half-demon son. Totosai was an old friend of the Inu no Taisho and knew him well enough so that his accounts of the general's exploits were seldom painted over with flattery or exaggeration. Inuyasha's single-minded goal when he heard these stories and crossed his wooden katana with Totosai's was to someday exceed his father in strength and glory.

The years passed without incident, and Inuyasha grew to be a guileless adolescent well on his way to becoming his father's heir. Or so he thought.

Everything changed one gray night when Inuyasha entered his parents' bedroom to find his mother sitting on the edge of her bed with her face in her hands, sobbing quietly. His father stood over her gravely with his back to him. It took Inuyasha some moments to notice the other presence in the room: a silver-haired woman in aristocratic robes with fair skin and golden eyes that seemed to dance with mirth at the sight of Izayoi's anguish.

"Is that your half-breed spawn?" said the woman, voice dripping with contempt disguised as amusement.

"Watch your tongue," said the Ino no Taisho.

"As the Ino no Taisho commands." The woman bowed her head in an exaggerated show of deference. "I fail to see what use you could have for the – forgive me – the _other_ one and its human mother when you have a pure-blood son to call your own."

The Ino no Taisho ignored her and turned to Inuyasha. For a moment he stared awkwardly at him, as if he had wanted to kneel in front of his son and put his hands on his shoulders but was startled to see that he was not as small as he had once been. It seemed to him only a few weeks ago that Inuyasha was small enough to smuggle along within his fur sash on minor military expeditions and skirmishes where his lieutenants might otherwise have disapproved of the child's presence. Now Inuyasha was himself part of the army, though the Inu no Taisho had never permitted him to see any real action, betraying not just his unwillingness to let his son come in harm's way but also his tacit acknowledgement that a hanyou's abilities were inferior to those of a full youkai.

"Inuyasha," he said at length. "I have something to tell you."

Inuyasha had already guessed what it was from the silver-haired woman's remarks and his mother's tears. With clenched fists, he prepared to accept his indictment as the lesser son of the Inu no Taisho, who, it transpired, had had a full-blood heir with an inu youkai noblewoman stowed away in a corner of the palace all this time, to be brought out at the right moment and presented to the clan elders, who had dared to question his commitment to their sacred traditions. He was not at all prepared for what he heard next.

"You have a younger brother."

The words, striking his eardrums, spread as gooseflesh to the rest of his body. Inuyasha was shaken to the core. His claws dug so deep into his palms that blood dripped freely to the floor. Not just a brother but a _younger_ brother! That meant his father had had a pure-blood offspring _after_ Inuyasha had been born. Inuyasha had not been enough for him.

"Where is he?" he demanded.

The silver-haired woman snorted with mirth.

"You thought I would bring my newborn child along just so he could be slaughtered by a hanyou at the only time in his life when you could possibly have any advantage over him?"

"Why?" said Inuyasha through clenched teeth. This was directed at his father.

"I was given an ultimatum by the clan elders," said the Inu no Taisho at length. "Either I was to produce a full-blood heir to succeed me, or Izayoi and you would be banished from the Western Lands for eternity. I could no longer guarantee your safety. I had to do it to appease the elders. You must understand, I did it for you and your mother."

But how could Inuyasha understand? How could his mother understand? Izayoi had not lifted her face from her hands once since Inuyasha had walked in on the ominous congregation. It was as if she had been turned to stone in that piaculative position. Inuyasha had never felt more human than he did at that moment or more distant from his father, to whom the whole matter seemed to be little more than an expedient compromise in an all-round unpleasant situation.

"I am sorry for any pain I may have caused you and your mother," said the Inu no Taisho, knowing, at the very least, the right thing to say.

"I expect Sesshoumaru to grow up in the palace," the silver-haired woman went on, as if talking to herself. "He shall take the same lessons the hanyou has been taking and be groomed as your heir, both as a soldier and as king. I must return to him now. Tomorrow you shall hold Sesshoumaru in your arms for the first time. You were not there to witness his birth, but do not weep over it. This is the next best thing any father could hope for."

The woman's robes trailed the floor as she swept out of the room, catching the light of the torches on the walls and shimmering like flames.

"Why?" Inuyasha said after the doors to the anteroom outside had slid shut. "If it was out of concern for our safety, you could have sent Mother and me to a human village. If you loved us, you would have been prepared to renounce your clan for us."

The Inu no Taisho was taken aback.

"Inuyasha!"

"You gave me the Tessaiga to protect Mother, did you not? It seems like the one she needs protecting from is you."

A flash of anger passed over the Inu no Taisho's face, lighting up his golden eyes.

"Watch your mouth, boy," he said. "I gave you the Tessaiga for your own protection. I watched you grow. I watched as the other children grew into full-fledged daiyoukai. They were beginning to realize that you were weaker than they were. Someday they might kill you while you played and claim it was an accident – claim that they pushed you too hard or inadvertently scratched you. And everyone would believe them, because that's what probably happened. A hanyou can never match even an average daiyoukai for strength on his own. You needed something to even the playing field. I gave you Tessaiga and Tenseiga. The one who masters both swords cannot be beaten, whether he be human or hanyou or demon. And I have guaranteed that the only one who can stand on that pedestal at the top of the world is you by ensuring that the swords will only submit to a hanyou's aura. You think I would ever do something like that for any Sesshoumaru or other youkai spawn the elders might parade before me as my son? Though he may be my blood, he can never be my son the way you are my son."

The Inu no Taisho had intended this to be a moving testament to his loyalty to his wife and his firstborn, but neither could be persuaded in that moment that a grave duplicity had not been committed against them and that the Inu no Taisho was not using big words to cover up his own guilt.

Izayoi rose and headed to the door.

"Come, my son," she said softly, speaking for the first time since Inuyasha had entered the room. Her cheek was stained with tears, and her eyes were hollow and empty, as if all the emotion had been squeezed out of them.

"You are no father of mine."

Inuyasha awoke with a start. He was lying in the shade of a tree on the banks of a river while A-Un lay curled up in the sunlight. Jaken must have been off collecting firewood for the night or attending to some other invented duty that he thought might increase his favor with Inuyasha.

That last line had definitely not been spoken. In the blur between dream and wakefulness, Inuyasha had almost forgotten how the rest of the scene had played out. The silver-haired woman – now known as Sesshoumaru's mother – had shown up the following morning with Sesshoumaru in her arms to discover that the Inu no Taisho had renounced his position at the helm of the clan the previous night and gone to live among the humans with his wife, but not before he had secured Inuyasha's place as his successor in a hurried accession ceremony. The elders, unaware of Sesshoumaru's existence, had grudgingly gone along with it. By the time it came to be known that the Inu no Taisho had had a full-blood son who might have been a more legitimate successor, it was too late. Inuyasha was already regnant, and he not only banished Sesshoumaru and his mother from the territory forever but demonstrated that his father had been right about the wielder of the Tessaiga and Tenseiga by slaying all the elders who had openly opposed his accession and forcing the remainder to submit to him with their tails between their legs, as it were. No one ever doubted the hanyou's power after that.

It was not a period of his life that Inuyasha looked back on with especial fondness. He hated having to use bloodshed as a means of establishing his ascendancy. It should be something that people knew without having to be told.

Presently, Jaken returned. Inuyasha had been correct in guessing that he had been off collecting firewood and equally correct in his other prediction when he saw Jaken discreetly holding an object behind his back in a manner that suggested that he expected his fortune to turn today.

"Unless that's the Shikon Jewel, you're not getting any favors from me," said Inuyasha with a rare touch of mischief.

Jaken started and dropped what he was holding. It was one of Kagome's arrows.

"Forgive me, Inuyasha-sama," he stammered.

Inuyasha recognized it as the arrow that that cowardly woman had used to pierce his thigh. This was another reason why his transformation into a full demon couldn't happen soon enough. A minor flesh wound like the one he had sustained would have healed in a matter of hours, and he wouldn't have had to stop and rest so frequently. Still, he thought with a smirk, the wounds he had inflicted on Sesshoumaru were such that even a demon would have trouble recovering from them – that is, if he even survived.

"What in the world are you doing with that thing?" he said.

Jaken started a second time and searched for the diplomatic note so that he could strike it.

"The arrowhead was bathed in a purifying light like the jewel," said Jaken. "Inuyasha-sama reacted unfavorably to this aura. The arrow must cause other demons to suffer in a similar fashion. I thought, what if the Tessaiga were bathed in the arrow's aura? There would not be a demon around that wouldn't perish at the slightest contact."

"A rare bright idea from you, Jaken." Inuyasha rose to his feet and tapped Jaken on the head with a long claw, causing the imp to quake with fear. "Except you're forgetting one little thing."

"What might that be, Inuyasha-sama?"

"Tessaiga is a demon sword. Who is to say the jewel's aura won't destroy it?"

Jaken hadn't thought about that.

"Imbecile," said Inuyasha. "Get rid of the damn thing. I have no use for it."

Jaken obliged and chucked the arrow into the river, narrowly missing A-Un. The dragon's death glare made Jaken resolve to be more careful about how he discarded dangerous objects in the future.

A flea buzzed near Inuyasha's ear. He slapped it away and saw Myouga, his father's old retainer, float to the ground in a daze.

"Inuyasha-sama," Myouga croaked. "Why?"

"What brings you out of hiding after all these years, old man?" said Inuyasha. "I don't recall catching a whiff of you after I set out on my conquest of the world."

That was because Myouga's cowardice knew no bounds, and the flea invariably fled any scene at the first sign of unrest. It was not an ineffective defense mechanism for someone of his size. The fact that he was the only one of his kind still alive bore testimony to that.

"Inuyasha-sama," Myouga began, building up his courage to get to the words out. "I just passed through the human village you laid waste to recently, because I felt a curious aura. It was none other than your brother, Sesshoumaru-sama."

Myouga deftly evaded Inuyasha's boot, which descended from the sky without warning and flattened the patch of grass on which he had stood a mere moment before.

"I have no brother," said Inuyasha. "Sesshoumaru is nothing but a mistake of my father's – his greatest mistake, even."

Myouga winced. There was still ample opportunity for him to leave with his life, but then he wouldn't hear the end of it from Totosai and the Inu no Taisho's other old retainers, none of whom put much stock in Myouga's existence having any use. With no shortage of misgiving, he went on:

"You doubtless feel that your father betrayed you and your mother when he had Sesshoumaru-sama."

"Because he did."

"But I have never known the Inu no Taisho to betray those who trusted him."

"Except that one time."

"The Inu no Taisho felt nothing for Sesshoumaru-sama's mother. Certainly nothing approaching the love and respect he felt for Izayoi-sama."

"He had a strange way of showing it."

"But Sesshoumaru-sama is still his son, and he loved him as his son."

"That goes without saying, since he allowed Sesshoumaru to live."

"As you know, the Inu no Taisho lived for a long time among the humans after abdicating his throne. He felt great remorse for the way in which he had abandoned his younger son and spent his time making sure that Sesshoumaru-sama was well provided for. I, Myouga, kept close watch on Sesshoumaru-sama all that time. Your father grew concerned that, while he had given Inuyasha-sama both his great swords, he had left nothing for Sesshoumaru-sama. He knew that one day he would have to answer for the injustice he had committed against Sesshoumaru-sama, and he attempted to rectify it in his will by bequeathing the Tenseiga to Sesshoumaru-sama, while the Tessaiga was to remain with Inuyasha-sama."

Jaken gave a cry of indignation.

"You dare imply that Inuyasha-sama's great sword should go to that disgraceful—"

"Shut it, Jaken," said Inuyasha. "Why is this the first I'm hearing of a will?"

Myouga twiddled his fingers nervously.

"The Master had told Myouga the whereabouts of his will before he died, but I couldn't remember the directions, and it wasn't until very recently that I found it. Totosai has looked over it as well, and there is no mistaking your father's intentions."

Inuyasha spent a moment in quiet contemplation of this news.

"I can't say I'm surprised," he said at length. "The Tenseiga has been silent ever since my father's death. I didn't know why, nor did I care, because the Tenseiga is little more than a useless scrap of metal. 'A sword that brings a hundred souls back from the dead with one swing'? Fuck that. It couldn't even save my mother from dying."

"Izayoi-sama had reached the end of her life," Myouga ventured timidly. "The Tenseiga can be used to reverse an untimely death, but all life must come to an end eventually. That is the natural order."

"A sword that can't overcome the natural order is no good to me," said Inuyasha. "I have no attachment to the Tenseiga and don't care if it's me or Sesshoumaru who wields it, but I'll be damned if I give that entitled full-demon usurper so much as a blade of grass. Go and tell Sesshoumaru, if he wants his sword, he's going to have to defeat me and pry it out of my dead hands."

Myouga sighed. Today was evidently not going to be the day he got to report a rare success to Totosai and the others. Instead, he hurried back to the village to find Sesshoumaru and inform him that his father had not left him nothing. The young demon had been shunned quite enough by those near and distant to him. It was time someone let some sunshine into his life.

tbc.


	4. Chapter 3

A/N: Guest: I appreciate the first part of your review, where you point out that Inuyasha's being the golden child again makes this story not so different from the original series. After that it devolved into a kind of hissy fit from which the only thing I got was that you really don't like Inuyasha. I'm not going to engage in Inuyasha bashing in this fic. The characters are meant to be the same as in the original series - just thrown into different circumstances. You might believe that Inuyasha was the Ino no Taisho's favorite by virtue of being his younger son and that Sesshoumaru ought to be his favorite here because he's the younger son. That's a valid viewpoint. I chose to believe that Inuyasha was his favorite because Izayoi was his favorite and that Inuyasha would naturally be showered with a lot more love and favor if he got to spend more time with his father. The annoying thing to me about the series is that nobody ever openly admits that Inuyasha is their father's favorite son. It's always "He must be testing Sesshoumaru" or "The Inu no Taisho is so wise, and he knows this is what's best for Sesshoumaru". I'm just making it plain here that Inuyasha is their father's favorite. (Also, if anyone's a whore, it's the Inu no Taisho. It's not Izayoi's fault he already had a son and a wife/mate in the original series.)

Some people in this fandom seem to take things way too seriously LOL. If I could add a third category to this fic, it would be humor, because I have a hard time taking anything seriously.

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

Back in the village, believing his wounds healed, Sesshoumaru kicked up a ruckus about how convalescing among humans was beneath his dignity and turned to march out of Kaede's hut, where Kagome, after much pleading with the old priestess, had managed to get her to agree to treat him. Kagome and Kaede watched in bemusement as Sesshoumaru got as far as the doorway before banging his head on the lintel and falling to the floor.

"You will do well not to move," said Kaede, hoping to God that her architectural decisions, which had been made with an eye to economy, wouldn't cost her her life. "The wounds the half-demon Inuyasha inflicted on you run deep. Though you may be a daiyoukai, a wound so deep inflicted by a demonic sword is too great even for your regenerative abilities."

"Get away from me, woman," Sesshoumaru snarled as Kaede approached him with a bowl of medicine.

"I don't really care whether you live or die, demon," said Kaede coolly. "However, you did save Kagome, so I suppose even a demon like you is capable of reform."

Sesshoumaru didn't respond. But the throbbing in his head and the stabbing pain in his stomach, which still felt like a sword being passed through his body every minute, compelled him to give up whatever dignity he thought he could hold on to, and he reached somewhat sheepishly for the bowl. He sipped in silence.

Kagome, who couldn't stand silence, decided to launch into her interview of Sesshoumaru.

"So this Inuyasha guy," she said. "I take it you're not on very good terms with him?"

Sesshoumaru looked up from the bowl briefly and then returned his gaze to it, as if to say that a stupid question like that didn't deserve an answer.

"Right," said Kagome at length. "So what's so special about the Tenseiga and the Tessaiga?"

She had guessed correctly that Sesshoumaru would be more inclined to open up on the subject of his father's swords.

"The swords," Sesshoumaru began, putting the bowl on the floor just out of Kaede's reach, so that the old priestess had to crawl over on her hands and knees, muttering curses, to retrieve it. "More, woman. The swords were forged from the fangs of my father, who was the greatest demon in the Western Lands. My father possessed three swords that made him the master of all aspects of life and death. These were the Tessaiga, Tenseiga, the So'unga. I desire those swords."

Sesshoumaru seemed at least somewhat aware of how lamely he had ended his story, for he buried his face in the bowl that Kaede returned to him after refilling it with medicine, grumbling about how she was not a servant in her own home.

"That's it?" Kagome blinked. She had expected more in the way of a motivating backstory – something with more justice, loss, and revenge, such as she was wont to find in her favorite novels. "You want them that badly, and they're not even your birthright or anything like that?"

Sesshoumaru frowned deeply.

"My father left me nothing after his death," he admitted. "He gave everything to Inuyasha. In this world, there is no room for the both of us. One of us has to die. If I am to kill Inuyasha, I must gain possession of his swords. Without his swords, he is nothing."

Kagome wisely refrained from pointing out that Inuyasha had seemed like plenty even without his swords.

"I didn't know my father very well, either," she said instead, in an attempt to strike a note of kinship. "He died when I was five, and Sota and I were raised by Mom and Grandpa."

"Why are you telling me this?" said Sesshoumaru.

"It sounds like you didn't know your father very well."

"My father did not die," said Sesshoumaru. "He made a conscious decision to abandon me and my mother. I was nothing more to him than a product of necessity. Making the Tessaiga mine and killing Inuyasha is…"

His way of getting back at his father by killing the person he loved most with the sword he gave him to protect him, Kagome realized as Sesshoumaru trailed off. His story was indeed one of justice, loss, and revenge – where the injustice committed against him was so great that at first glance one didn't even see it. Sesshoumaru hadn't been given a chance to have a birthright on anything. He had been cut off invidiously before he had left the starting line.

Kaede uttered a prayer, fingering her beads.

"Let go of these vindictive thoughts, demon," she admonished. "The only thing bloodshed brings is more bloodshed."

"His name is Sesshoumaru," said Kagome.

Sesshoumaru regarded her curiously, betraying neither gratitude nor irritation.

"I do not need a human to stand up for me," he said.

Kagome fumed.

"You're not in any position to be making demands."

A silence barbed with awkwardness pervaded the hut. Kaede wanted very badly to slip out of the oppressive atmosphere and go down to the river but was afraid that any sudden movements would cause Sesshoumaru's attention to fall on her.

It was Sesshoumaru who broke the silence.

"Woman," he began.

"It's Kagome," said Kagome. "Ka-go-me."

"Wom—"

" _Ka-go-me_."

Sesshoumaru scoffed.

"You used a sacred arrow—"

"Say my name," Kagome demanded. "Say it. _Ka-go-me_."

To Kaede the whole scene looked so much like a lover's quarrel, which was something she hadn't seen since she was a girl, that her horror at the thought that Kagome might fall for a demon was completely outweighed by her sense of entertainment.

Sesshoumaru was not insensible of this impression.

"Kagome," he said in irritation, which was more life than his voice had previously exhibited. "Know your place. I detest humans intermingling with demons."

Kagome's face turned redder than the cravat on her uniform.

"That's not—!"

"As I was saying," Sesshoumaru went on with dignity. "It is my impression that you were able to subdue Inuyasha with the aid of a sacred arrow. Until I get my hands on Tessaiga, such a thing could prove useful to me. Woman, I shall permit you to accompany me until Inuyasha is defeated."

"'Permit me'?"

"Please, child," said Kaede, her eyes sparkling. "See how earnest he is."

"What's gotten into you?" said Kagome, swatting bugs out of her face distractedly. If there was one thing she hated about this period above everything else, it was how the insect population seemed ten- or even a hundred-fold greater than that back at home.

"Sesshoumaru-sama!" came a high-pitched plea in a wounded voice. This was, of course, Myouga, who had made an expeditious return from the forest by catching an updraft on the edge of the rice paddies.

"Myouga," said Sesshoumaru, eyes widening slightly.

"Myouga hopes Sesshoumaru-sama has been keeping well."

Sesshoumaru snorted without mirth.

"Of what use to me is my father's old retainer? Begone before I hold you over a flame."

Myouga leapt to Kagome's side. Kagome shrieked and attempted to swat him with her satchel.

"Sesshoumaru-sama!" Myouga pleaded. "Please make her stop. I am your loyal retainer, after all."

"You are my _father's_ retainer," said Sesshoumaru. "Your loyalty does not lie with me. I will not order her to stop."

Kagome was only satisfied that Myouga was not a threat after she had flattened him thrice with the weight of all her homework. The sight of Myouga lying at her feet, defenseless and pathetic, filled her with remorse, and she begged Kaede to revive him.

"What do I look like, a witch doctor?" the old priestess said in irritation. "Spending all my time reviving demons you put out of commission?"

At length Myouga, having drunk of Kaede's potion, revived. Satisfied that further attacks from Kagome's satchel were not forthcoming, he ventured to reveal the reason he had sought Sessohumaru out.

"Sesshoumaru-sama," he said in an official tone. "I have made it my mission to do justice by you and reunite you with one of your father's swords."

Sesshoumaru was listening intently.

"On his deathbed," Myouga went on, "your father confided to me that he regretted not having tried to get to know you better."

"Spare me the sentimentality," Sesshoumaru said sharply. "I do not care if my father had a change of heart as he lay dying. Leave out the irrelevant details."

"Sesshoumaru-sama is so heartless!" Myouga complained, eyes quivering. "Your father confided to Myouga that he wished for Sesshoumaru-sama to be given the Tenseiga."

"I have no interest in the Tenseiga."

That makes two of you, Myouga thought drily, knowing that the Tenseiga was the only sword that Inuyasha could be persuaded to part with. That was also doubtless why the Inu no Taisho had chosen to give Sesshoumaru the Tenseiga rather than the Tessaiga. Myouga, like everyone else in the world, with the exception of the Inu no Taisho and Totosai, thought the Tenseiga was nothing more than a scrap of cheap metal – a poor parody of the Tessaiga. If he was going to have to make a sales pitch to get Sessohumaru to accept his overdue inheritance, it wasn't going to be a very convincing one.

"The Tenseiga is a great sword," Myouga protested, quoting Totosai verbatim.

"What's so great about a sword that can't cut anything in the world of the living?" Sesshoumaru demanded. "When one has gone to the trouble of killing a foe with a weapon other than the Tenseiga, why would one possibly want to bring him back to life again?"

That's probably not how it was intended to be used, Myouga thought, but he failed to articulate it in time to stop Sesshoumaru slapping him toward the fire with the back of his hand. Myouga fell so close to the burning wood that embers rained down on him. He scrambled to his feet before he was incinerated.

"If it's not the Tessaiga you bring me, I have no use for you," said Sesshoumaru, rising. He was pleasantly surprised to note that the pain in his gut was all but gone but was too proud to ask the priestess for another helping of her medicine. "I shall defeat that unworthy hanyou and take the Tessaiga from him."

"Don't you want at least one sword to get you started?" said Kagome. With her modern sensibilities, she had little patience for things like a nobleman's pride. "Right now Inuyasha has two, and you have zero. Why not even the playing field first before you go looking to take the Tessaiga from him?"

Sesshoumaru stayed silent for several long moments. The proposition was not a bad one. He spoke to Myouga without looking at him:

"Go back to Inuyasha and tell him that Sesshoumaru expects his Tenseiga."

Myouga was about to depart for the forest a second time with the deepest misgiving, but the sound of hurried footsteps coming up the path to Kaede's hut saved him.

"Kaede-sama!" It was a villager. Breathless and desperate, he looked as if he had seen a ghost. "Kaede-sama!"

"Calm yourself, and tell me what happened," said Kaede, shambling out onto the porch.

"The jewel," the villager gasped. "It's gone."

tbc.


End file.
